The story centres on Bond investigating an attack on MI6; the attack is part of a plot by former MI6 agent Raoul Silva to humiliate, discredit and kill M as revenge against her for betraying him. The film sees the return of two recurring characters to the series after an absence of two films: Q, played by Ben Whishaw, and Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris. Skyfall is the last film of the series for Judi Dench, who played M, a role that she had played in the previous six films. The position is subsequently filled by Ralph Fiennes' character, Gareth Mallory, though Dench would make a brief appearance in the next Bond film, Spectre.

Mendes was approached to direct the film after the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008. Development was suspended when MGM encountered financial troubles and did not resume until December 2010; during this time, Mendes remained attached to the project as a consultant. The original screenwriter, Peter Morgan, left the project during the suspension. When production resumed, Logan, Purvis, and Wade continued writing what became the final version of the script. Filming began in November 2011 and primarily took place in the United Kingdom, with smaller portions shot in China and Turkey.

Skyfall premiered in London at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 October 2012 and was released in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2012 and the United States on 9 November 2012. It was the first James Bond film to be screened in IMAX venues, although it was not filmed with IMAX cameras. The film's release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the series, which began with Dr. No in 1962. Skyfall was positively received by critics, being praised for its performances—particularly those of Craig, Bardem and Dench—writing and script, cinematography, Mendes' direction, Thomas Newman's score, and the action scenes. It was the 14th film to gross over $1 billion worldwide, and the first Bond film to do so. It became the seventh-highest-grossing film at the time, the highest-grossing film in the UK, the highest-grossing film in the series, the highest-grossing film worldwide for both Sony Pictures and MGM, and the second highest-grossing film of 2012. The film won several accolades, including two BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards and two Grammys.

Contents

MI6 agents James Bond and Eve Moneypenny pursue mercenary Patrice, who has stolen a hard drive containing details of undercover agents. As Bond and Patrice fight atop a train, M orders Moneypenny to shoot Patrice from long range. Moneypenny misses and inadvertently hits Bond, who falls into a river. Bond is presumed dead and Patrice escapes.

In the aftermath of the operation M comes under pressure from Gareth Mallory, the chairman of the British parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, to retire. MI6's servers are hacked and M receives a taunting computer message moments before the MI6 headquarters explode. Bond, who used his presumed death to retire, learns of the attack and returns to London. Although he fails a series of physical and psychological examinations, M approves his return to the field. Bond is ordered to identify Patrice's employer, recover the stolen hard drive, and kill Patrice. He meets Q, MI6's new quartermaster, who gives him a radio beacon and a Walther PPK pistol.

In Shanghai, Bond follows Patrice into a skyscraper but is unable to prevent him from killing a target. The two fight, but Patrice falls to his death before Bond can learn his employer's identity. Bond finds a Casino token in Patrice's rifle case, which leads him to a casino in Macau. Bond is approached by Sévérine, Patrice's accomplice, and asks to meet her employer. She warns him that he is about to be killed by her bodyguards, but promises to help Bond if he will kill her employer. Bond thwarts the attack and joins Séverine on her yacht, where they have sex. They travel to an abandoned island off the coast of Macau where they are taken prisoner by the crew and delivered to Séverine's employer, Raoul Silva. Silva, once an MI6 agent, has now turned to cyberterrorism and orchestrated the attack on MI6. Silva kills Séverine, but Bond captures Silva for rendition to Britain.

At MI6's new underground headquarters, Q attempts to decrypt Silva's laptop. Q inadvertently gives the laptop access to the MI6 servers, which allows Silva to escape. Bond deduces that Silva wanted to be captured as part of a plan to kill M, whom he resents for disavowing him. Bond gives chase through the London Underground but loses Silva after a train crash. Silva attacks M during a public inquiry into her handling of the stolen hard drive but Bond arrives in time to repel the attack. M is saved from a bullet by Mallory and ends up in a car with Bond.

Bond and M travel to Skyfall, the Bond family estate in the Scottish Highlands. Bond instructs Q and Bill Tanner to leave an electronic trail for Silva to follow. Bond and M meet up with Skyfall's gamekeeper Kincade, and together the trio set up a series of booby traps throughout the house. When Silva's men arrive, Bond, M, and Kincade manage to kill most of them. M is wounded, but conceals it from Bond and Kincade. Silva himself arrives by helicopter with more men and heavy weapons, so Bond sends M and Kincade off through a priest hole to a chapel on the grounds. As the house is destroyed Bond escapes down the same tunnel and heads toward the chapel.

Silva survives the destruction of the house and follows Kincade and M to the chapel. He forces his gun into M's hand and presses his temple to hers, begging her to kill them both. Bond arrives and kills Silva by throwing a knife into his back, but M succumbs to her wounds and dies in Bond's arms. Following M's funeral, Moneypenny formally introduces herself to Bond and tells him she is retiring from field work to become secretary for the newly appointed M. Bond is summoned to M's office and finds that Mallory is his new boss.

Production of Skyfall was suspended throughout 2010 because of MGM's financial troubles. Preproduction resumed following MGM's exit from bankruptcy on 21 December 2010; in January 2011, the film was officially given a release date of 9 November 2012 by MGM and the Broccoli family, with production scheduled to start in late 2011. Subsequently, MGM and Sony Pictures announced that the UK release date would be brought forward to 26 October 2012, two weeks ahead of the US release date, which remained scheduled for 9 November 2012.[5] The film's budget is estimated to have been between US$150 million[6][7] and $200 million,[2] compared to the $200 million spent on Quantum of Solace.[8]Skyfall was part of year-long celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Dr. No and the Bond film series. According to producer Michael G. Wilson, a documentary crew was scheduled to follow production of the film to celebrate the anniversary.[9]

After the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008, producer Barbara Broccoli commented that Skyfall, untitled at the time, may continue the plot of the Quantum organisation, introduced in Casino Royale and continued in Quantum of Solace.[10] Ultimately, Skyfall was a stand-alone film.

In August 2011 the Serbian newspaper Blic stated that Bond 23 would be entitled Carte Blanche and would be an adaptation of the recent continuation novel by Jeffery Deaver.[11] On 30 August Eon Productions officially denied any link between Bond 23 and Carte Blanche, stating that "the new film is not going to be called Carte Blanche and will have nothing to do with the Jeffery Deaver book".[12] On 3 October 2011 15 domain names including 'jamesbond-skyfall.com' and 'skyfallthefilm.com' were reported to have been registered on behalf of MGM and Sony Pictures by Internet brand-protection service MarkMonitor. This led to supposition in the media that the film had been given the name "Skyfall". These reports were not confirmed at the time by Eon Productions, Sony or MGM.[13]Skyfall was later confirmed as the title at a press conference on 3 November 2011, during which co-producer Barbara Broccoli said that the title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film".[14] The title refers to the name of Bond's childhood home "Skyfall", and the setting for the film's finale.[15]

The main cast of Skyfall was officially announced at a press conference held at the Corinthia Hotel in London on 3 November 2011,[16] 50 years to the day after Sean Connery was announced to play James Bond in the film Dr. No.[9] Daniel Craig returned as James Bond for the third time,[17] saying he felt lucky to have the chance to appear as 007.[18] Director Sam Mendes described Bond as experiencing a "combination of lassitude, boredom, depression [and] difficulty with what he's chosen to do for a living".[19] Judi Dench returned as M for her seventh and final appearance in the role.[20] Over the course of the film, M's ability to run MI6 is repeatedly called into question, culminating in a public inquiry into her running of the service.

Javier Bardem was cast as the film's principal villain, Raoul Silva, a cyberterrorist who is seeking revenge against those he holds responsible for betraying him.[21][22] Bardem described Silva as "more than a villain", while Craig stated that Bond has a "very important relationship" to Silva.[23] In casting the role, director Sam Mendes admitted that he lobbied hard for Bardem to accept the part. Mendes saw the potential for the character to be recognised as one of the most memorable characters in the series and wanted to create "something [the audience] may consider to have been absent from the Bond movies for a long time".[24] He felt that Bardem was one of the few actors up to the task of becoming "colourless" and existing within the world of the film as something more than a function of the plot.[25] In preparing for the role, Bardem had the script translated into his native Spanish to better understand his character, which Mendes cited as being a sign of the actor's commitment to the film.[26] Bardem dyed his hair blond for the role after brainstorming ideas with Mendes to come up with a distinct visual look for the character,[27] which led some commentators to observe a similarity between the character and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.[28][29][30] Bérénice Marlohe was cast as Séverine, a character who had been saved from the Macau sex trade by Silva and now works as his representative.[31][32] Marlohe described her character as being "glamorous and enigmatic",[17] and that she drew inspiration from GoldenEye villain Xenia Onatopp (played by Famke Janssen) in playing Séverine.[33]

Ralph Fiennes was cast as Gareth Mallory,[34] a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and now the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee,[35] which gives him the authority to regulate MI6.[36] At the end of the film, Mallory becomes the head of MI6, assuming the title of M. During production, Fiennes stated that he could not say anything specific about the role other than that it was a "really interesting part which is really quite fun".[37] To play the returning character of Miss Moneypenny, Naomie Harris was cast.[30] Harris' role was initially presented as that of Eve, an MI6 field agent who works closely with Bond. Despite ongoing speculation in the media that Harris had been cast as Miss Moneypenny,[38][39] this was not confirmed by anyone involved in production of the film, with Harris herself even going so far as to dismiss claims that Eve was in fact Moneypenny, stating that "Eve is not remotely office-bound".[40] According to Harris, Eve "[believes] she is Bond's equal, but she is really his junior".[41] Another character returning to the series was Q, played by Ben Whishaw.[42] Mendes had initially declined to confirm which part Whishaw would play,[17] and later said the idea of the re-introduction was his, saying "I offered ideas about Moneypenny, Q and a flamboyant villain and they said yes". To play the part of Kincade, Mendes cast Albert Finney.[43] The producers briefly considered approaching Sean Connery to play the role in a nod to the 50th anniversary of the film series, but elected not to as they felt Connery's presence would be seen as stunt casting and disengage audiences from the film.[44]

Skyfall was directed by Sam Mendes, who first signed on to the project shortly after Quantum of Solace was released, and remained on board as a consultant during the period of uncertainty surrounding MGM's financial situation. Mendes, who had previously worked with Craig on Road to Perdition, was approached after seeing Craig in a production of A Steady Rain. The two met after a performance, where Craig broached the subject of directing a Bond film for the first time.[45] Mendes was at first hesitant to accept the job as directing a Bond film had no appeal to him, but he did not reject the offer immediately because of Craig's involvement and enthusiasm for the project; Mendes described Craig's casting and performance in Casino Royale as being precisely what he felt the Bond franchise needed in its lead actor. He agreed to direct after meeting with producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and seeing the early direction the film was going to take.[45] Speculation in the media suggested that Mendes had commissioned rewrites of the script to "[remove] action scenes in favour of 'characterful performances'" with the intention of bidding for an Academy Award.[46] Mendes denied the reports, stating that the film's planned action scenes were an important part of the overall film.[9]

Peter Morgan was originally commissioned to write a script, but left the project when MGM filed for bankruptcy and production of the film stalled; despite his departure, Morgan later stated that the final script was based on his original idea, retaining what he described as the film's "big hook".[47] Director Mendes adamantly denied this, stating that it was "just not true" and that Morgan's script treatment had been discarded once Mendes agreed to direct.[48] The final script was written by Bond screenwriting regulars Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan.[49] Logan recounted being brought into the project by his long-time friend Sam Mendes, describing the process between Mendes and the writers as "very collaborative", and that writing Skyfall was one of the best experiences he had had in scripting a film.[50] British playwright Jez Butterworth also provided uncredited contributions.[51]

Production moved to Turkey in March 2012, with filming reported to be continuing until 6 May.[78] Production was expected to take three months in the country.[79]Adana stands in for the outskirts of Istanbul in the film.[80] A group of Turkish teenagers infiltrated a closed set in a railway sidings in Adana to film rehearsals of a fight scene on top of a train before being caught by security.[81] The train scene depicted in trailers showed the Varda Viaduct outside Adana. Bond stunt double Andy Lister dived backwards off the 300-foot drop for the scene. A crane was set up on a train carriage to hold a safety line.[72] Parts of Istanbul—including the Spice Bazaar, Yeni Camii, the Grand Post Office, Sultanahmet Square and the Grand Bazaar—were closed for filming in April.[78] Store owners in the affected areas were reportedly allowed to open their shops, but were not allowed to conduct business, instead being paid TRY750 ($418) per day as compensation.[78] Production faced criticism for allegedly damaging buildings while filming a motorcycle chase across rooftops in the city. Michael G. Wilson denied these claims, pointing out that the film crew had removed sections of rooftops before filming began and replaced them with replicas for the duration of the shoot; when filming finished, the original rooftops would be restored.[82] The production team negotiated with 613 part owners of the Calis Beach in Fethiye, to film along the coastline.[72]

Mendes confirmed that China would be featured in the film, with shooting scheduled to take place in Shanghai and "other parts" of the country.[9] John Logan described that production deliberately sought out locations that were "in opposition" to London with an exotic quality that made them "places for Bond to be uncomfortable".[72] Many scenes were not filmed on location in Shanghai. Instead, the Virgin Active pool in London's Canary Wharf acted as Bond's hotel pool in Shanghai,[67][72] and the entrance to London's fourth tallest building, Broadgate Tower, was also lit up to look like an office building there; for the aerial footage of Shanghai, the crew received rare access to shoot from a helicopter on loan from the Chinese government.[72] The interior of the Golden Dragon casino in Macau where Bond met Séverine was constructed on a sound stage at Pinewood Studios, with 300 floating lanterns and two 30-foot high dragon heads lighting the set.[72] Additional scenes were filmed at Ascot Racecourse, standing in for Shanghai Pudong International Airport.[83][84] The first official image from the film was released on 1 February 2012, showing Daniel Craig on set at Pinewood, within a recreation of a skyscraper in Shanghai.[85]

Set reports dated April 2012 recorded that scenes would be set on Hashima Island, an abandoned island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan.[86][87] In actuality, the scene was set on an unnamed island off the coast of Macau, though based on the real-life Hashima. Sam Mendes explained that the location was a hybrid of a set and computer-generated images.[88] Production chose to include the Hashima model after Daniel Craig met with Swedish film-maker Thomas Nordanstad whilst shooting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in Stockholm. Nordanstad, who produced a short documentary on Hashima Island in 2002 entitled Hashima, recalled Craig taking extensive notes on the island at the time of the meeting, but was unaware of his interest in it until Skyfall was released.[89]

The film was later converted into the IMAX format for projection in IMAX cinemas. Deakins was unaware that the film was to be released on IMAX until after he had made the decision to shoot the film with the Arri Alexa cameras, and was unhappy with the IMAX tests made from his footage as the colours "didn't look great".[64] After exploring the IMAX system further and discovering that the IMAX Corporation was using their proprietary re-mastering process, Deakins had further tests made without the process and found that "the images looked spectacular on the big IMAX screen", quelling his doubts about the format.[64]

Thomas Newman, who had previously worked with Sam Mendes as composer for American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road, replaced David Arnold as composer,[90] becoming the ninth composer in the series' history. When asked about the circumstances surrounding his departure from the role, David Arnold commented that Newman had been selected by Mendes because of their work together, rather than because of Arnold's commitment to working with director Danny Boyle as composer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[91] The soundtrack album was released on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2012 in the United States.[92]

In October 2012 British singer-songwriter Adele confirmed that she had written and recorded the film's theme song with her regular songwriter, Paul Epworth.[93][94] She later posted the cover for the "Skyfall" sheet music on Twitter, crediting the songwriting to herself and Epworth, with arrangements to both Epworth and orchestrator J. A. C. Redford.[95] The song was released online at 0:07 am BST on 5 October 2012, a day dubbed "James Bond Day" by the producers as it marked 50 years to the day of the release of Dr. No.[96]

The premiere of Skyfall was on 23 October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The event was attended by Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.[101] The film was released in the UK three days later on 26 October and into US cinemas on 8 November.[102]Skyfall was the first Bond film to be screened in IMAX venues[103] and was released into IMAX cinemas in North America a day earlier than the conventional cinema release.[104]

Skyfall earned $1.109 billion worldwide,[2] and is the highest-grossing film worldwide for Sony Pictures and the second-highest-grossing film of 2012.[106][107] On its opening weekend, it earned $80.6 million from 25 markets.[108] In the UK the film grossed £20.1 million on its opening weekend, making it the second-highest Friday-to-Sunday debut ever behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.[109] It also achieved the second-highest IMAX debut ever behind The Dark Knight Rises.[108] The film set a record for the highest seven-day gross with £37.2 million, surpassing previous record holder Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (£35.7 million).[110] By 9 November 2012 the film had earned over £57 million to surpass The Dark Knight Rises as the highest-grossing film of 2012, and the highest-grossing James Bond film of all time in the UK.[111] After 40 days of release the total UK gross stood at £94.28 million, making Skyfall the highest-grossing film in the UK, surpassing the £94.03 million of Avatar.[112] By 30 December 2012, it became the first film to gross more than £100 million ($161.6 million) in the UK.[113]Skyfall's takings at the box office saw it become only the 14th film and first Bond film to gross over $1 billion, making it the seventh highest-grossing film ever made at the time and taking it past the inflation-adjusted amount of $1.047 billion earned by Thunderball.[114][115]

Skyfall set an opening weekend record in Switzerland ($5.3 million) and recorded the second-largest opening weekend for a Hollywood film in India of 2012 ($5.1 million), as well as grossing $14.3 million on its opening weekend in France.[116] In Austria, it achieved the second-highest opening weekend ever ($3.4 million) behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, while in Finland, it scored the largest opening weekend when excluding previews ($1.47 million).[117]

In North America, the film opened in 3,505 cinemas, the widest opening for a Bond film.[118] The film earned $2.4 million from midnight showings on its opening day and a further $2.2 million from IMAX and large-format cinemas.[118]CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade filmgoers gave the film was an "A" on an A+ to F scale.[119]Skyfall went on to gross $30.8 million on its opening day in the US and Canada,[120] and $88.4 million in its opening weekend, the biggest debut yet for a Bond film.[121] By the end of its theatrical run, the film earned $304,360,277 in the United States and Canada, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2012 in these regions.[2][122]

Skyfall received "generally positive reviews from critics and fans", according to the GlobalPost.[123]Rotten Tomatoes sampled 349 reviewers and judged 93% of the reviews to be positive,[124] while the film scored 81 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 49 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[125] A number of critics, including Kate Muir, reviewing for The Times, Philip French, writing in The Observer, IGN's Daniel Krupa and the reviewers for the Irish Independent and the Daily Record, all asked whether Skyfall was the best Bond film produced.[126]The Daily Telegraph's film reviewer, Robbie Collin, considered Skyfall to be "often dazzling, always audacious",[28] with excellent action sequences in a film that contained humour and emotion.[28]Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter thought that Skyfall was "dramatically gripping while still brandishing a droll undercurrent of humor",[127] going on to say that it was a film that had "some weight and complexity to it".[127]Variety's Peter DeBruge suggested that the film's greatest strength lay in its willingness to put as much focus on characterisation as it did action set-pieces, allowing the two to co-exist rather than compete for the audience's attention,[128] while Manohla Dargis, reviewing for The New York Times, considered Skyfall to be "a superior follow-up to Casino Royale"[129] which is "opulent rather than outlandish and insistently, progressively low-key".[129]Kim Newman, reviewing the film for Empire, concluded, "Skyfall is pretty much all you could want from a 21st Century Bond: cool but not camp, respectful of tradition but up to the moment, serious in its thrills and relatively complex in its characters but with the sense of fun that hasn't always been evident lately".[130]Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, describing it as "a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon".[131] Reviewing for the New Statesman, Ryan Gilbey saw that "nostalgia permeates the movie",[132] going on to say that "sometimes the old ways are the best".[132]

The UK DVD release of Skyfall was advertised by a train covered in 007 vinyls.

A number of reviewers praised Daniel Craig in Skyfall. Roger Ebert believed that in Skyfall "Daniel Craig [takes] full possession of a role he previously played unconvincingly";[131] Philip French commented that "Craig manages to get out of the shadow of Connery";[133] while Daniel Krupa thought Craig's Bond was a "defining performance" for "a great actor".[134] Edward Porter, writing in The Sunday Times, considered that "Craig has developed an authoritative Bond persona, dry and intelligent".[135] Ryan Gilbey thought Craig had "relaxed into Bond without losing any steeliness".[132]

The supporting cast also received praise. Roger Ebert reflected that Skyfall "at last provides a role worthy of Judi Dench, one of the best actors of her generation. She is all but the co-star of the film, with a lot of screen time, poignant dialogue, and a character who is far more complex and sympathetic than we expect in this series".[131] Jenny McCartney, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, agreed, describing Dench as "compellingly luminous" in the film, and the one that "the camera caresses most meaningfully and often".[136] McCartney thought Javier Bardem played Silva "with worrisome élan",[136] while Henry K Miller considered his character "the most authentically Bondian Bond villain in decades".[137] A number of critics noted the strength of the supporting cast; Kim Newman found the "warmth and gravitas" of Finney's performance noteworthy,[130] while other reviewers, including Edward Porter, Daniel Krupa and The Playlist's Oliver Lyttelton, singled out Ralph Fiennes as Mallory and Ben Whishaw as Q.[138]

Ann Hornaday, writing for The Washington Post, thought Sam Mendes had reinvigorated the series, with Skyfall being "sleek, crisp, classy ... exhibiting just the right proportion of respect for legacy and embrace of novelty".[139] Henry K. Miller of Sight & Sound agreed, and praised Mendes, who he thought was worthy of directing more Bond films.[137] Kim Newman also praised Mendes' direction of the action sequences.[130] The work of cinematographer Roger Deakins also received praise: Newman commented that he "delivers the most impressive visuals this series has had since the 1960s",[130] and Miller described the film as "dazzlingly photographed".[137]

The film did not escape criticism, with reviews pointing to its two and a half-hour running time, and the final third of the film being "protracted", and not matching the first two thirds in its momentum as the underlying flaws in the film.[140][141] Xan Brooks of The Guardian, in an otherwise positive review, criticised the "touchy-feely indulgence" of "the bold decision to open Bond up – to probe at the character's back-story and raise a toast to his relationship with M".[142] Daniel Krupa also singled out Naomie Harris as "awkward" and having a "virtually non-existent chemistry" with Daniel Craig.[134] Similarly Philip French in The Observer tempered his praise for the film by highlighting "some lazy repetition" and argued, "the badinage is often perfunctory and Bond is as usual captured too easily and too easily escapes".[133] Edward Porter, writing in The Sunday Times, considered that while aspects of the film were "achieved with wit and panache",[135] he found that the climax to the film was slightly disappointing, although the "weaknesses in the final stages are not serious, however, and the film's brief epilogue is wonderful".[135]

^ abcCollin, Robbie (26 October 2012). "007: a superhero for our times; its action scenes are dazzling as ever, but the latest Bond is also full of humour and warmth". The Daily Telegraph. London. p. 33.